A Year of Grace

A couple of years ago I first heard the concept of having a “Word of the Year” rather than resolutions. Friend, I’m here to tell you I had given up on resolutions years ago. They are just fodder for failure in my life. I’ve got enough failures without creating opportunities for more.

But this idea of a simple word through which to view my year was very appealing. My first word was “Intentional.” That was a good word. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-yoga-pants kind of girl who could use a healthy dose of intentionality. And that link right there…yikes…I wrote that a long time ago. Let’s just say I’ve learned a few things about writing since then. Or at least I hope I have.

Last year I chose “Simplicity.” I had just started on my journey through “Seven: An Experiment In The Mutiny Of Excess” by Jen Hatmaker and it became glaringly obvious to me that my life, from the tangible to the intangible, was in dire need of purging. There were some ugly realizations along the way, but I really have to say that I love who I am becoming a little more every day. However, I could do without the old lady hands and gray hairs that stick straight up. Maybe one day I’ll learn to embrace those, too.

This year a quick glance through my Kindle queue and continuously seeing the header of my blog started me toward my word of 2015: Grace. Waiting to be read are titles like “Grace for the Good Girl” and “The Best Yes.” Obviously I crave grace in my own life, but I also see that I need to be extending it to others as well.

So many people in this world could use a healthy dose of grace. From the mom on the side of the road panhandling for money to feed her children, to the girl who left a deplorable situation at home only to get sucked into far worse, to the tired mom with the screaming toddlers in the grocery store…no matter where I look there are people in need of grace. It’s not just me.

With the lens of grace, 2015 looks inviting, not overwhelming.

As an ever-recovering perfectionist, grace can be hard to come by when the voices in my head get to talking too loudly. It’s not so much that I actually do anything perfectly (heh), but more that I will never start a thing or become surrounded by half-finished projects. Once I actually decide to do a thing to completion it means I’ve finally gotten past my perfectionistic tendencies and I just plow through the project. But getting to that point…there lies the struggle.

So let this year be a year of grace.

Word of the Year? Resolutions? Goals? Tell me how you kicked off 2015!

About Maria Davis

Maria is a mom of two teens, a coffee lover by day, tea lover by night, book nerd, crazy cat lady, a web designer, musician and a self-proclaimed geek bent on a life of embracing grace and sharing stories.